The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.14.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:SO opened at $86.11 on Friday. Southern has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $89.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.18 and a 200 day moving average of $75.87. The firm has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.